Your Valuation’s a Joke

Let’s face it - when an investor asks you about valuation…

…you have no idea what you’re doing.

-Should I go high?

-Should I go low?

-Do I just throw out a number & hope they don’t think I’m nuts?

Not knowing how to have the valuation chat is dangerous.

So many founders are torpedoing their chances to even get to a deal.

They don’t realize this simple fact:

Your company is NOT worth what you think it is - or what any model will tell you.

Here’s why founders fail when they get the question, “So, what’s your valuation?”:

• Too high - you’re crazy, no way it’s worth that much, nothx
• Too low - wow that’s so cheap, they must have trouble raising
• “Our model / 409A says…” - lmao your model is a joke & underlying assumptions are insane
• “In the range of…” - lol!! so you actually have no idea?

All of these are bad bad bad.

By the end of your investor valuation chat, you ended up feeling pretty awkward.

Don’t worry, just about every founder has felt the same.

From now on, no more valuation guesswork.

I’m going to show you what to do instead.

You’ll be able to turn those anxious & awkward dances into much more casual chats about “what feels right” - and focus on the more important stuff instead.

Here’s what to do:

Step 0: Forget your valuation model

Valuation models are worthless.

That includes both Excel models and 409As*.

I’ve built these things professionally for over a decade. Incl. for publicly-listed companies

I tweak a single number by a few % points, and I can make your company look like it’s worth double.

Doesn’t make it true.

Step 1: Acknowledge you suck @ this game, & forget the % you’re giving up

Yup.

Abandon all % ownership, ye who enter this discussion.

Don’t worry, you’ll be fine - here’s some data to get you educated:

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The more tied to your % ownership stake you are, the less likely you are to grow.

Stop thinking in terms of how much you’re giving up, because you should be looking for value instead 👇

Step 2: Laser-focus on the VALUE that the RIGHT investor brings

Investor who only writes a check & goes away → kinda useless

The value they add is limited to the $ they contributed.

But imagine your best investor: they not only invest $, but also…

• Team++: Introduce your superstar CTO, doubling your tech rollout speed
• Distribution++: Walk you into discussions w/your dream enterprise channel partner
• Financing++: Makes a few warm intros Series B investors, making your next round super-easy

Would you give a sh*t about giving an extra 1-2%, to an investor who brought you that 👆 kind of value?

The only way you’re gonna find out about that value: ASK!

Step 3: Trust in the market

Your magic words:

“We’re letting the market price this round… we’re confident we’ll get to a deal that makes sense with the RIGHT investor”

This is putting your $ where your mouth is.

Every intelligent investor (esp. VC) knows how dangerous it is to take too big a bite off your cap table.

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Step 4: Get it in writing

“Trust but verify”

If you’re giving an investor a sweetheart deal…

…better than you would any other investor…

…and it’s because they promised you something highly valuable (like an intro to 10x Fortune 500 potential customers)…

…then get it in writing.

It’s only fair.

You wouldn’t give that deal to anyone else, right?

You can make it simple, like an option:

• $X million Investment + 10x intros (as discussed) = 15%
• $X million Investment only = 13%

Not like you want to force them to deliver.

But when they do, make it worth their while for coming good on it, right?

Summary

Most important: get the deal done.

You have no idea how much additional value (beyond $) you can bring to your company in the context of a financing round.

But you gotta look for it - and never let a % stop you from getting that massive value.

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*until Series B/C